Part 22 in our series on William Hills: when fortunes were made in a day
The prospector would sally forth, testing every likely outcrop and washing the dirt in every stream.
Everyone on the Rand was struck by the get-rich-quick mania in the 1890s.
William Hills wrote of these years as a journalist at the time of South Africa’s gold rush.
You couldn’t tell from one weekend to the next how an acquaintance’s fortunes might change, the City Times founder wrote.
“As a pressman, I was brought into close contact with the whole of the seething, effervescing life of the goldfields. Opportunities were opening up on every hand.
“No one dreamt of ‘deep-deeps’ in those days; all that was thought of were possible ‘strikes of gold’ on hitherto undiscovered outcrops.
“And the rewards to the successful prospector were golden in every respect.”
Hills concluded that the prospecting business must be fascinating.
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“Armed with a pestle and mortar, a pan, a spade and a small pick-axe, with a few days’ supply of food slung in a sack over his shoulder, the prospector would sally forth, testing every likely outcrop and washing the dirt in every stream he came across.
“But he was often accompanied by a faithful black ‘Man Friday’ to do the hard work.”
Anyone who did make a discovery, if he were wise, made a beeline for the mining commissioner’s office to register his find but, more often than not, he was unwise.
“He would be waylaid, rushed to a bar and then pumped for information.
“Full of pride and beer, he would pull out his little bag of samples, but refuse any information as to the situation of the find until completely fuddled.
“If the secret escaped him, as often as not, he would find his discoverer’s claim jumped and all his labour wasted,” Hills wrote.
“We hear of sharks nowadays, but the sharks of today cannot compare with the shoal of sharks who lived on the diggers’ and prospectors’ and mine shareholders in the time of the (South African) Republic.
“Most of the mines then had very small capitalisation and could be easily cornered. Quite often prospectors were knocked down and robbed of their finds.” (Article: Carol Stier).
Next time: Staking claims during the gold rush
ALSO READ: Part 20 in our William Hills series: Krugersdorp looked its best on a Saturday
